The winners of the 57th National Film Awards have been announced!

The winners of the 57th National Film Awards have been announced! The awards recognizes the best of Indian cinema, including the best films in each region and language of the country.

Congratulatory messages are pouring in on Twitter for Amitabh Bachchan who was adjudged Best Actor for his role in the movie, Paa. Bachchan gave an outstanding performance as a child suffering with a rare disorder – progeria. The same film also won veteran actress, Arundhati Nag, the Best Supporting Actress award. The film also was named Best Feature Film – Hindi.

Aamir Khan’s blockbuster 3 Idiots won the award for the Most Popular category, while the Bengali film, Abohomaan won two awards. Rituparno Ghosh walked away with the Best Director award and Ananya Chatterjee for Best Actress.

The Malayalam film, Kutty Srank was declared Best Film, while Well Done Abba was awarded for Best Film on Social Issues and Nargis Dutt Award for Best Film with Social Message went to Delhi 6.

Said to be India’s most prominent film awards, the government appoints a national panel to select the winning entry. Because of its national scale, the National Film Awards is said to be the equivalent of the American Academy Awards.